1. Field of Art
This invention relates to apparatus used to open beverage containers, especially bottles having twist off caps. With more specificity, this invention relates to an apparatus that in efficiently removes twist off caps yet can be readily carried on the person of a user, for example on a key ring, for easy accessibility and use. In addition, the invention may be formed in shapes which render it attractive as a novelty item.
2. Related Art
Bottle capping was developed many years ago as a means of sealing the opening of beverage bottles. Long ago, bottle caps generally standardized into a shape called a xe2x80x9ccrown capxe2x80x9d which has a circumferential skirt around its lower edge. The skirt is formed into a number of projecting flutes called xe2x80x9cjags,xe2x80x9d at least one function of which is to provide some resilience in the skirt to permit it to fit over and tightly seal around the neck of the bottle. Bottle caps have a standard number of 21 jags (except for some large caps which may have 24 jags). Initially, bottle caps had to be pried off of the neck of the bottle with hand held or mounted openers.
More recently, crown bottle caps were developed which could be twisted off of the neck of the bottle, rather than being pried off. Often, the caps can be removed by the average person grasping the cap and twisting it off with the unaided hand. However, at times this mode of removal is either very difficult or inconvenient, and persons resort to prying the cap off. Variations in cap and bottle opening dimensions, the force with which the cap was applied to the bottle neck, etc. make removal uncertain. Additionally, the jags around the bottle cap skirt, while providing improved gripping, can be relatively sharp and painful to the hand.
In response, various apparatus have been made which assist in twisting off bottle caps. Most share the attribute of fitting over and engaging the bottle cap, and providing both improved gripping and leverage to twist the cap off. However, the known prior art shares various deficiencies in the shape of the surfaces of the apparatus which engage the bottle cap.
The present invention is an apparatus which has an improved crown bottle cap engaging surface, thereby providing improved ability to twist off the bottle cap. The apparatus has an outer profile, when viewed from the top or bottom, which can be readily formed in the shape of items such as a football, thereby making an attractive novelty item. The apparatus may be carried in a user""s pocket or on a key chain for ready access. A flattened main body is elongated, and, when viewed from a side, has a given thickness, and has a circular opening into which a crown bottle cap may be inserted. The circumference of the opening is formed into a plurality of pairs of facets, each of the facets having walls which are not parallel to each other (that is, straight-sided), but instead taper toward one another and intersect within the thickness of the main body. Each pair of facets form a notch, and in the preferred embodiment of the invention the number of notches matches the number of jags on a standard crown bottle cap, generally 21 in number. The elongated shape of the apparatus provides improved gripping and twisting off of the bottle cap, and permits the invention, when viewed from the top or bottom, to be formed into desirable and attractive shapes, enhancing its appeal as a novelty item.